:ral inl c

.-l

This book uses a varieĘ of different types of poem to make it easier for the learner of English to
understand spoken English and also to be better understood by native speakers of English. The poems
range from very traditional forms, the limerick, for example, to contemporary forms such as the rap. But
whatever the type of poem, they have something in common: they all rhyme, and they all have a regular
metre (that is to say, a regular beat or rhythm).
This means two things: first, they are easy to repeat and remember; second, they can follow the natural
rhythm of spoken English. This second point is very important, since English - unlike many languages -
depends on a fairly regular beat going from stressed syllable to stressed syllable. You have to make sure
you stress the correct syllables, since mistakes of stress are one of the main reasons why a person may be
difficult to understand.
The main beats in the poems in this book always correspond to the stressed syllables. This means that if
you keep to the beat, then you automatically stress the correct syllables. Take the beginning of two of the
poems/ each with the same oNp two three, oNt two three beat:
1 Norman's from Nottingham, Martin's from Mottingham,
Charley's from Chester and Lesley's from Lee;
Joyce is from Jarrow and Henry's from Harrow,
i Laura's from Leicester and Dave's from Dundee.
2 Tina's a teacher, Priscilla's a preacher,
Donald's a doctor and Ted drives a truck.
Fred's a photographer, Joe's a geographer;
Barry's a barrister down on his luck.
The main beat (the oNp of the oNE two three) is marked in bold. Keep to that beat and you will soon
become aware that the maiority of two-syllable nouns are stressed on the first syllable. Not only that: you
are forced, for example, to realize that Leicester has only two syllable s (like Laura, Charley, teacher, doctor) ,
that Dundee (unusually) has the stress on the second syllable, and that photographer and geographer have
the main stress on the second syllable. And the regular rhyme scheme tells you, for instance, that Leicester
rhymes with Chester.
Now look at another extract:
1 Percy persuaded the troops to surrender
Betty became a quite famous celebrity
colin collected some marvellous furniture
Avril averted'a major catastrophe
This time, the beat forces you to stress the verbs, correctly, on the second syllable. And if you keep to the
original speed you must, again correctly, make the first syllable of each verb very, very short.
You can come in at any point in the book, But there is a logic to the way it is laid out. Parts I and II
concentrate on the main things that speakers may choose to do if they wish to sound more like native
speakers: correct syllable length; linking; weak and strong forms; short and iong vowels; rules for
placement of stress. And if you want people to understand you better, then you should make sure you tly
to stress the correct syllables.
(Note, however, that you do not have to shorten weak syllables as much as native speakers do, unless you
want to speak as fastas we do.)

Part III looks at what really happens in fast, natural speech, so this is where your ears will be trained in
order to understand spoken English better (and where you will become aware of how to sound more
natural, if that is your aim). Part IV contains a number of poems to help you practise what has been
covered earlie1 as well as providing a range of vocabulary work.
Vocabulary (and grammar) work is, in fact, built into the course throughout, And many of the tasks rely
on skill in understanding the words as well as the sounds and rhythm. But do not feel that you have to
understand every word of a poem before you can start to listen to or repeat it. Before you even look at the
vocabulary explanations, just listen to a given poem many, many times. Let the words flow over you.
Concentrate not just on the rhythm of the language, but also on the music, the way the words flow up
Rhymes and Rhythm

and down (the intonation, in fact). When I learn a new language, I imagine the sentences swimming by
like great fish in the sea. I see them going up and down (and English goes up and down in a great wa i.,
long flowing movements), So listen and listen first. Then take the book and listen again whiló reading to
yourself. Next, listen to short sections, stop the recording and repeat. Listen, stop and repeat. Finally, you
will be able to read along with the recordings, as if you were swimming along to the rhyihm and music of
English.
There are several icons in the margins to help you make the most of the book:
These icons give you the corresponding recording number or{ the accompanying audio CD,
making it easy to find the correct one.

These icons give a quick indication of a poem's level of difficulĘ on a scale 1 (simplest) to 5
(complex.1.

These icons flag up supporting material in the teacher notes on the cD-RoM.

Also, look out for the tasks I've set you (Task 1, Task 2, ...;, these will challenge you to use the
information and skills you have just learnt, reinforcing them through practice.
Above all, enjoy yourselves. Have fun. That's what it's all about.

Michael Vaughan-Rees
London, 2010

2
 :]*r.§,i.,riar&rr§:a:i:.

loarners of English to sound more natural

As l said in the lntroduction, the use of very rhythmic poems will help
give correct imPortance to the most
when they speak. tvtosiimportantly, if you hit [r," O"ai correctly you will
impońant syllables.
Or, as l say later:
lf you don't wont your English to sound a mes,
You've got to hit the beot, you've got to hit the stress,
But it's going to sound funny, it's going to go wrong
lf you make your weak sounds much too strong,
in English, the schwa, Now do not
ln this first Part, you will hear a lot about the most common vowel sound
most native speakers do.. Unless you want people to
worry if you do not make this sound as short and weak a5
you.do not have to sound like us. ftVhen l first started
think you are British, or any other type of native speaker,
a Foreiin Langóage, l thoughi that my job was to help people sound as much like me as
teaching English as
porriuu] suithat was long-ago uńo oplnions have changed a great deal since then.)
very weak ones, Native
What l think ls important is to make the stressed syllables definitely longer than the
whoget the stresses in the wrong place, (Speakers
speakers, l am certain, find it difficult to understańd speakers
not have such problems, since they usually do not try to sPeak as fast as
whose first language is not English may
we do,)
earlier, listen to them many times,
The most important thing to do with the poems is to enjoy them. As l said
you tińeirre backing tracks, which manY of the Poems have, lf
letting the sounds tlow oier you. And l hope that
tracis your own.lańguage/ if you, wish) you can get hold of
you like the idea of making you, o*n backing (for
Banjapplication. Thafs what i have done for this edition, with helP
an Apple computer and uie'the Garage
(percussion, bass, 9uitar, etc,),
from my friend ;on staiting. There aró hundreds of different rhythmic loops
going fiom hip hop to tabla to Middle Eastern sarod. And it's all free to use, and so easY even l can
1uŹ,lndian
use it. Just drag and drop.
 Chapter 1
Syllables, stress and rhythm

How many syllables?

Al] words consist tlf one or mole syllables. In that filst sentence, for exanr1lle, the
words al!, wortl,s, of,
one, Or and ntora just hal'e one syllablc, consist has tlvo, and,.syllttllcs has
threc.

Listen to tlre fol1orł'in8 rł'otcls, 'lhe nunrber of syllables is givcn at the beginning of
each grclup.
(one) Jane / hor-rse /blue / Spain /peals /gloiv/ work/r,r,atch /rł,atched/ louc] / hurlt/ give
(two) Susan / houses /}'ellow /laPan l apples /grov,,,cr /lr.orking/ lvatchful / a]oucl / huntecl / clecic]e/
forgil,e / photo
(three) Timothv/incligo / (lermanv/ banarras /tvorkallle
/workrnanship /watchfulness / decisive /
clecided / forgiven / tomolrtln, / cigarette / photograplr
(fOur) Ł]izabeth / indecisir.e / Argentina / ponregranates / unforgiven / unwo1kable photography
/ /
photograllh it

',',,,: : Decide how many syllables there are in each of the following words.

biology ( ) bridge ( ) strength( ) photographer ( )

watches ( ) unabridged ( ) support ( ) jumped ( )
jumpers ( ) policeman ( ) decided ( obeyed (
) )

The importance of stress

It is imPortant to become awale of the number of syllables in a word.
But if you want to speak English
wtth the corr,ect rhYthm, there is something even more important: the place
of stress.

Listen to the following sequence:

lll
Jane, Susan and Timothy.
The first name has one sYllable, the second has two and the last has three.
But only one syllable in each
word is heavilY stressed. You can see this more clearly if we change the
size of th";;itt"n syllables,
according to their relative importance. So, imagine them as:
l |o lo o

Jane, SUrun and Timothy

Stressed sYllables, such as Jane, SU and Ti, are different from unstressed (sometimes
called weak)
sYllables in a number of waYs. To start with, they tend to be both relatively ioud
and long; relative, that is
not onlY to anY other sYllables in the same word but also to unimportant words
such as ąnc:,
The imPortance of stressed syllables in terms of rhythm can be shown if we change
the order of the
sequence of names.

4
 Part I Syllables, stress and rhythm

Listen to the following names. Then repeat each line, keeping to the same rhythnl. Clap your hands, click
your fingers oI tap on the desk to keep to the beat,
rl l l l l l
Jane, Susan and Timothy. Timothy, Susan and Jane,
Susan, Jane and Timothy. Jane, Timothy and Susan.
Timothy, Jane and Susan. Susan, Timothy and Jane.
,
l l l pause l l l pause

recording you
Jane, Susan and Timothy. (Jane, Susan and Timothy)

Susan, Jane and Timothy. (Susan, Jane and Timothy)

Timothy, Jane and Susan. (Timothy, Jane and Susan)

Timothy, Susan and Jane. (Timothy, Susan and Jane)

Jane, Timothy and Susan. (}ane, Timothy and Susan)

Susan, Timothy and Jane. (Susan, Timothy and Jane)

]t cloesn't matter that the three nanres have c]ifferent nutnbers of syllables. And it doesn't matter in
wlrich order the,v are said, The tinre betr,vcen tłre strcssed s1,llables remains more or less the same,
which lneans that tłre beat stavs the sanlc.
But \Ą,e carr onl_y kcep to thc ONE TWO THRI,E beat if rve make sure that:

a) the strcssecl syllablc is loudel arrd longer than the others;

b) the weak syllables are reall,v- weak.

Task 2 Complete the table using the words beIow according to the number of syllables.

' Afghanistan / giraffe / Leit

Anthony / Manchester / Morocco

1 syllable 2 syllables 3 syllables 4 syllables

Cities Wolverhampton

Boys'names
Girls'names
Animals
countries
Rivers

where is the stress?

Listen to the following two-syllable words.

Janet / Japan l Volga / giraffe / Cardiff / Peter

Each of them has, of course, one stressed syllable and one weak syllable. But which is which?
Which words have the stress pattern l . (with the stress on the first syllable)?
And which have the pattern o | (with the stress on the second)?

5
Rhymes and Rhythm

Listen to the words once more. Two words start with a weak syllable, the rest with a strong, stressed
syllable.
o a gira.ffa /Japan
; o janet/Volga/Caldiff /p€ter

Do not be surprised that there are more of one pattern than the other; the vast majoriĘ of two-syllable
nouns (names included) have the stress pattern I o. (As we shall seg later, most two-syllable verbs are
the other way round, having the pattern o !.)
With three-syllable words there are, of course, three possible patterns:
l oo = stress on 1't syllable
o l o =stress ollż"d syllable
oo l = stress on 3'd syllable

Task 3 Listen to the three-syllable words from the list below and compIete the table placing
them according to their stress pattern.
Manchester/ Anthony /Jemima / elephant / Morocco l Amazon

nothing in the third column. In fact there are very few o o l words of any sort. They
Yes, there was
tend to be either imports, such as cigarette and chimpanzee, ot words such as |apanese and picturesque,
where the ending is so strong that it becomes the main stress.
Nouns with the o l o pattern are quite rare too, unless they are derived from verbs (accountąnt l
ąllowance l believer l enquiry l excitement, etc.). And many of them, like |emima andMorocco, are imports
ending in a vowel letter/sound; think about banana, tobacco, spaghetti, for example.

Task 4 Now listen to the four-syllable words, and complete the table as before.
FeliciĘ / Afghanistan / Alexander / Wolverhampton / rhinoceros / Mississippi
Only two stless patterns are given, since it is rare for four-syllable words to be stressed on the first or last syllable.

6
 Part I Syllables, stress and rhythm

Prirnaty alad secondary stress

Listen again to the four-syllable words. InAlexander, Wolverhampton andMississiPPi, those with the
oo l
patternihe first syllable sounds stron§er than the second and fourth, but not as strong as the third.
Think of them as:
Alex?flder / WolverhćtfilPton / MissiSSippi
A similar thing happens in the case of three_syllabłe words with the o o l pattern, for example:

cigaf€tte / chimpanZe€ /JapafI€S€ / picturesque

It is not enough, then, simply to talk of syllables as being either stressed or weak; with words of three
or more syllables it may be necessary to distinguish three degrees of stress:
primary, secondary and weak (or unstressed)
l.c
So, in the case of these two patterns it might be better to show them as:
oo| (e.g., cigarette) = secondary stress + weak + primary stress, and
oo!o (e.g., Alexander) = 5ę66rrdary stress + weak + primary stress + weakl

Weak syllables and schwa

As a general rule we can say that every syllable contains a vowel sound.z A second general rule is that
the shorter the vowel, the shorter and weaker the syllable.

Now let us take another look at some of the words already examined, this time concentratin$ on the
vowel sounds in the weak syllables. To help us do this we will stalt to use phonetic notation, where one
symbol = ofl€ soufld. This iŚ because standard spelling often makes it difflcult to see what the sounds
really are.
Janet !o J?net l'd3erutl or l'dsenatl
Peter !o Peter l'pi,^tal
giraffe o! giraffe ldsa'to'lfl
Japan oI JaPOn ld3a'penl
elephant loo €lephant /'ehfant or /'elafant/
Anthony loo Anthor,y l'entanil
Amazon loo A-aron l'amazanl
Morocco olo MofOcco /ma'rokao/
Jemima olo Jelllima /d3'matmal ot l d3a'malma/
cigarette .ol cigaf€tt€ /,slga'ret/
FeliciĘ oIoo Felicity /fa'lIsati/
rhinoceros oIoo rhifIoceros /rai'nosaras/
Wolverhampton oo!o Wolverhafilpton /,w-olva'hamptan/
Mrssrssrppr oo!o MissiSSippi /,mtst'srpi/ or /,mrsa'srpi/

1 The rules of stress cover words in isolation, in their dictionary form. ln Part II we will see how stress maY shift according
to word function.
2 The exception is in such words as atrtain or bottle where lrrl and lll may act as 'syllabic consonants', with no need for a
preceding short vowel.

7
Rhymes and Rhythm

If we enlarge the phonetic notation it is easy to see which is the most common vowei sound in the weak,
unstressed syllables.
Morocco /ma'rokao/ Amazon l'tr.-mazanl
giraffe ldsa'rgrf l peter l'pt'^tal
Japan ldsa'pa-.nl Anthony l'rentantl
Felicity /fa'hsati/ /rai'nosaras/
rhinoceros
cigarette /,sIga'ret/ elephant /'ehfant/ , ,,/'elafant/
Jemima l d3l'malffle/ or l d3a'malma l Janet 'd3anlt o, l'd3renatl
wolverhampton /,wolva'hremPten/
The most common sound by far is the one in blue. This is the vowel represented by the symbol lal and it
is the only vowel important enough to be given its own name: schwa.

'I'he schwa (sometimes spelled shwa) is not only the most common lrowcl sound in weak syllables; it is
by far the most conlmon vowel souncl irr the rł,hole of the F,nglish slrsterrr. Look at its distribution in
the words above, It is fottnd:
. at tlre start of r,r,-ords, jrrst before the rnain stress:
e,g., Morocco, f apan, giraffe, Felicity
. following nain stress (sonlctimes twicc in l ,, , words):
e.g., I)eter, Anlazon, Antłtlny
. bctween secondary and primarv stress:
e.8., ci grllette, Wolverhampton
. as an even shorter alternative to short hl in fast versions of certain words:
e.g., J anet, f emirrra, elephant

Schwa is not just short, it is the shortest possible vowel in English. Listen to how little difference the
presence of schwa can make to a word.
words without schwa words with schwa
sport = lsplltl support = /sa'prlt/
claps = /klreps/ collapse = /ka'Ireps/
prayed = lpreldl parade /pa'reld/
=

train = ltrelnl terrain = /te'reIn/

blow = lblaol below = /ba'lao/
plight = lplaltl polite = lpa'Ialtl
Clyde = lklańl collide = /ka'laId/
hungry =/'hłngri/ Hungary = /'hnngeri/
Britney = l'brftnil Brittany = l'btftanil

Note that tlrere is no sirrgie written vowel that corlesporrds to schwa. So tlrere is no point in trying to
learrr all the possible written fotn-rs where thc schwa sounc1 can Lle found.
Note also tlrat schwa is not essential. But do try to make strong syllables more important than weak ones.

Task 5 Listen to the following words, alItaken from page 4, and circIe the syllables
containing schwa. (Note, not all words contain schwa.)
gloWer yellow aloud hunted forgive photo
Timothy Germany bananas lł,orkmanship tomorIo\Ą, Elizabeth
Argentina photoglaph photography photographic

a
 Part I Syllables, stress and rhythm

Stress and rhythm

When we looked at theJane, Susan and Timothv seqllence/ we sa\v that it is possible to keep to a more
or less regular beat, based on stressed syllables, provided that:
a) the stressed syllable is louder and longer than the others;
b) the weak syllables are really weak.

You can demonstrate this by using the first line of a famous children's rhyme called 'This is the house
thatJack built'. It has four beats, corresponding to the stressed syllables marked in bold in the previous
line. But note that the first beat is followed by two weak syllables, the next by one, then by none. So you
have to imagine the rhythm of the line as:
oNE TWo THREE FOUR

Ioo l o|l
DAH du du DAH du DAH DAH
This 'i, the house that Jack built
(Note the use of DAH du du DAH du DAH DAH. You can always use these nonsense syllables to get the
rhythm of sentences without having to \^/orry about an exact plonunciation. Just remember that DAH is
relatively long and loud while du is relatively short and quiet.)

Task 6 Listen to what happens if we keep to the same four-beat rhythm, while changing the
words and varying the number of weak syllables.
oNE TWo THREE FoUR
lo o!o oloo l
DAH du du DAH du du DAH dudu DAH
These are the hous es that Ia queline built
Now try this longer sequence/ still keeping to the same rhythm.
oNE TWo THREE FoUR
This is ttre house tnut Jack built
These are the houses tłrut Jack built
These are the houses tnut JOqueIine built
This is tłre house that my filOther oesigned
This is ttre bicycle Peter repaired
Those are the p€ople we lTt€t in the palk
That is tne P€Ison I S?W on the stairs
ThOSe are the P€OpIe we drove to the Pdtty
That is ttre $?Idener who WOrkS for my fitOther
Andrew is toller tnan Peter and Thomas
Fan.y a glass or ttanan branayz
TOm'S not as tall as the I€St of the famity
What an alTl1,zingly livety productionl
HOW can \^/e
POSSibly $et there in timeI

9
Rhymes and Rhythm

Schwa in grammatical items

Schwa is found not only in lexical items (nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs). It is regularly
found in common, weakly-stressed grammatical items, especially prepositions, articles, auxiliary verbs
and pronouns.

,This house that

Listen again to the Jack built' sequence and see if;rou can spot the grammatical items
containing schwa.

Strong and weak forms of grammatical items

In the previous task we concentlated on weakly stressed grammatical items, all containing schwa. But be
careful; do not assume that such items always contain schwa.
This can depend on:
. what the item is doing (i.e., its function) andlor;
. where the item is found (i.e., its position).
The word that, for example, has two different functions.
1, In ,This is the house that Jack built' it is a weakly stressed relative pronoun, with schwa. /Óat/
2 In ,That is the gardener who works for my mother' it is a strongly stressed demonstrative pronoun,
with a different, stronger vowel. /óat/
The definite article thehas two different pronunciations according to the following sound.
1 When the next word begins with a consonant (e.g., the house l the people) it is the weak form with
schwa: /óa 'haos/ or /óa 'pilpal/.
2 But when followed by a vowe| (as in the old man) it is pronounced /ói/, with a /j/ sound linking it to
j'aold mr.nl .3
the vowel /ói
The preposition fo changes according to the following sound and its position in the sentence.
1 When fol1owed by a consonant (e.g., to the parĘ), the weak form with schwa is used: /ta Óa 'po:til.

2 When followed by a vowel

*a 'po:til.
(as in to a parĘ), it contains a stronger vowel with a /w/ sound linking it to
the vowel: /tu
3 Finally, if to ends a sequence (e.g,, That's where I'm going to), it is pronounced /tul/ with an even
strongeł longer vowel, as if it were foo or two.
We can say the same about a number of other grammatical items, notably: the pronoutts he, her, him and
them; the possessive ad|ectives fu er and his; and modal and auxiliary verbs. These, too, have various
strong and weak forms, and the strongest form of all is used in contrast with another word.
Take the pronouns and possessive adjectives. Compare.
strong forms (associated with pointing and/or contrast)
1, He is the one \^/ho did it! (l'hi,^jlz óa wzrn/ ...)
2 I gave it to him not her! (... ltu'hrm not 'hsl/)
3 It was them I saw, over there! (... l'óeml ... /'óea/)
4 It was her fault, not his! 1... l'hs,^l ... l'hIzl)
5 We did it, not you! (l'wi,^1 ... l'jull)

3 The alticle rłe also has the forrn /ói:/ when heavily stressed, as in the following exchange: 'MY father met Michael |ackson
once-' 'The Michdel |ackson?'

,al
 Part I Syllables, stress and rhythm

very weak forms (usually found after a stressed verb)

1 Where's Peter?
t think he's ovet there. lat'OtĘktzl
2 Wlrere's Jane?
I've just left her on her own. /'d3łs'left a rDn e'ra<;n/
3 Where's John?
I've just left hin. on his own. /d:;łs'left Im Dfi 'zaun|
4 Where are your parents?
I've just left them on their own. /'d3łs'left am Dn óa 'raon/)
5 She's always playlng her guitar. /'plerjI4 a gI'tGI/

Note that more tlran one weak form may be possible: for example , her can be /ha/ or lal; them
can be
ltim and can
/óanr/ or laml; you canbe /ju/ ot ljal. Note, too, that the very weak forms of her, tlrcm
elision of the consonant at the start of the word,
irrvolve not only a weakening of tńe vol,r,el, but also
This will be looked at in greater c]etail in i)art 3.

Rhythm and linking

ln the previous section, the word linking rł,as usecl for the first tinre. So far, you have learned that in
But
orcler tb keep to the rlrytłrm vou have to hit thc stressecl syllables and weaken the weak sYllables.
there is one more ilnpórtant factor: the rłlvthm can only tlow if words are properlY linked.
,flow, because, it can help to thirrk of lvords as a stleam, with no division between them.
I use the word
Or you may prefer to imagine tłre words as a chain, al1 joined (or linked) together,

tEl There are four nłain ways of linking words. Here is a simple sequence to heip you remember them,

Lą One apple, two apples, three apples, four apples

1rr each case, the number links smoothly to the follovving vowel sound, so that the next word
sounds as if
it doesn't start witlr a volł,el at ail. Imagine it like this:

written as soundslike phonetic notation

1 One apple wrr napple /wł nrepel/
2 Twoapples two wapples ltu;*epalzl
jrlpalzl
3 Three apples three yapple, /Ori'^

4 Four apples four rapples lfl'^ rcpalzl

Now let's look at these four Ępes of linking in greater detail,

Consonant to vowe| one apple

When aword ending in a consonant is follolved by a word beginning with a vowel, there is a smooth )
link. If the word beginning with the vowel is stressed, then the moment of stress Seems to begin with
the preceding consónant. Ćornpu.e the following sequeilces, n,hich sound exactly the same,

a) lVhat we need is aname. /a'nelm/

b) What we need is an aim, /a'netm/
Tłris is tlre most common form of linking, and there ivere several examples in the 'This is the house
that
Jack built' sequence/ including:
a glass_of_Italian brandy

Tom's not_as tall as the rest*of the family.

That_is the person_I saw on the stairs.

1l
 Rhymes and Rhythm

Rounded vowel to vowel two apples

Where a nord ends rłlith one of the rounded vorłrels la<sl, laul, lall @s in stt, now, foo) there is a /w/
link,

For example:
so (h)e's left! = /sao
*ilz 'left/
*'aold/
too old = /ttx
Andrew is taller = /'endtl7i*IZ 'tula/
This is presumably due to the fact that the lips are coming together al7yway, and the consequent parting
of the lips in preparation for the next vowel forces a /w/.

Spread/stretched vowel to vowel three apples

When a word ends with lill (as irt see, he, she) or one of the diphthongs of which /I/ is the second
element (lall, l&l , llll , as in my, they, boy) there is an off-glide to ljl .
.
For example:
ja 'glols/
yes, I am = /je sal Ja-ml Fancy a glass? /'frensi
jłlkal/
=
jofan/
very often = /veri my uncle = /mal

/r/ to vowel four apples

ln man1, dialects of English (incltrding General American and several founcl in Britain), the written r in
words such as mother, for and far has a corresponding lrl sound. But in RĘ an /r/ sound is only heard
when there is a following vowel.

Compare the following:

far = lfg:l far a,lłray = /folra'wei/
for weeks = lfa'wi:ks/ fot ever = /fa'reve/
mother = /'mnóa/ mother-in-law = /'mlÓarln 'lcl/
Peter = l'piltal Peter and Tom = /'piltaren 'tom/
Two other forms of linking
There are two other types of link which you should know about. Don't feel that you have to imitate
them, but you will be able to understand spoken English more easily if you are aware of them.

'Intrusive' /r/ to vowel

In nrany vr,orcls ending with the nrittcn consonant r the final vowel sound is tlne of the iollovlirrg:
schwa(teacher/harbour/actor/etc.); ll:l Gour /cloor/pour/etc.)and lgll Gar lfar lbat /etc.).Ncl
l

i
doubt as a lesult of this, thete is a tendcncy to insert a linking /r/ when a rł,ord ends in one of these ]

I
vowel sounds, even when no written r exists, ]

For example:
Anrerica and Asia = /a'merIka ra 'neI3a/
Asia and Anrerica = f'el3a re ne 'merIka/
law and order = /,Icl ra 'nrlda/
Shah of persia = {ol rav 'ps:[al or l'pz3al
Careful witłr this one. Many people consider that 'intrusive' lrl is sub-standard, and certainly rrot to be
imitated.

12
 Syllables, stless and rhythm

Consonant to consonant linking

Many rtords in English start rł,ith clusters of tlvo or three cotlsonant sounds. Fol example, Pldy l sPltty l
trttin l strtłirt l dryl l
l fly, and so on,
try

so when a rł,ord cnding in a consonant sclund is follor,ved by a rł,ord beginning with another
consonant with which it can form a cluster, then tlrere is a tendencv for that cluster tO occur.
,Ihat
sounds rather complicated, bttt is actually a description of nhatJ-rappens rvith, for exanPle, ctlld raitt,
lł,here the /ct/ is dralłln tówards the /r/ (sirrce tlre initial clustcr /clr/ is highlv productive) so that it sounds
like crlrrl tlrttin,withthe stress starting on /dri and trrlt on lrl. C)ther examples include:
actual words sounds like phonetic notation
ice cream I scream /aI'skrilm/
nert week necks tweak /,neks'twilk/
six trains sick strains /,sIk'streInz/
rnight rise my tries l,mal'tratz
Regent's Park region spark /,ri:d3an(t)'spo:k/

Billy yate a napple, a nice ri papple

Below there is a chant to help you practise the first three Ępes of linking, The chant is written with the
correct spelling on the left of the page, but you actually say it the way it is written on the right.

Vocabulary notes
Apples, ()ranses and apricots are fruit; ołliotls, ctrtichokes and atłbergitle.§ are vegetables; ąlmot'tcls are nuts;
celi toot likó snakes, but live in rivers or the sea; oysteru are shell-fish which you cut open and eat with
a little lemon-juice; crunclly here is the opposite of soft; runny means not cooked for long; you can
.słnoke different types of fish, salmon, for example,

E
How it's written How it sounds
Billy ate an apple, Billy yate a napple,
a nice ripe appie a nice ri papple ,Ą-
|-_-'
Beattie ate an ofange/ Beattie yate a norange/

aI
2 a nice juicy olange a nice juicy yorange
Lucy ate an ice cream, Lucy yate a ni scream,
\l
a nice creamy ice crearn a nigh screamy yi scream
Flo ate an apricot, Flo wate a napricot --/
a nice yellow apricot a nice yeilow wapricot
Mo ate an otnelette, Mo wate a nomelette,
a nice runny omelette a nice runny yomelette §
Chloe ate an e88, Chloe yate a negg,
a nice brown egg a nice brow negg
Nelly ate an almond, Nelly yate a nalmond,
a nice crunchy almond a nigh scrunchy yalmond
Sally ate an onion, Sally yate a nonion,

m
a nice Spanish onion a nigh Spani shonion
Alex ate an artichoke, Alec sate a nartichoke,
a nice tasty artichoke a nigh stasty yartichoke
Andrew ate an aubergine, Andrew wate a naubergine,
a nice spicy aubergine a nigh spicy yaubergine
Mary ate an olive Mary yate a nolive,
a nice Greek olive a nigh scree colive
caroł ate an eel, caro late a neel,
a nice smoked eel a nigh smoke teel
Alice ate an oyster, Alice sate a noystel,
a nice fresh oyster a nice fre shoyster

13
 Rhymes and Rhythm

And what kind of summer did you have?

Here is a chance for you to practise what we've been looking at so far The poem below has a simple,
driving ONE two three ONE two three beat. But you will only keep to the beat if you remember to:
1 hit the main stressed syllables (shown in bold in the first three verses);
2 watch out for the weak syllables in the names; a lot of them start with an unstressed syllable
containing schwa;
3 watch out also for the weak forms of short grammatical words such as to, and, that and, ofi
4 make the links between words where necessary;
5 and don't be afraid to leave out (elide) the occasional sound. We'll be looking at this in greater detail
in Part 3, but for the moment iust note that and often loses its final /d/, especially when followed by a
Consonant; and, of rnay lose its lv| and become schwa, also when followed by a consonant. All of these
things happen in the second verse, as you can see when it is written in phonetic notation.

l l l l
lwl 'drauv Oru: óa 'nalt to *3 \nltd3 nle 'brłsalz/
lta 't[uz lotsa 'bll,^z an il(t) 'plenti ja 'młsalz/

Vocabulary notes
booze (noun/verb) is slang for '(alcoholic) drink';
to falter is to stop doing something smoothly; talking for instance;
a Fiestą is a tlpe of Ford car;
gear is a general word for 'things';
a fee is money paid for professional services (to a lawyer, architect, etc.);
a loner is a person who prefers to be alone;
mussels are shellfish which are very popular in Belgium;
replenish is a formal verb meaning'fill'.

ts
we trave]led to venice then on to verona
to test a Fiesta with only one owner.
We drove through the night to a village near Brussels
§rym to choose lots of booze and eat plenty of mussels.
We later decided to head off to Spain
via France for a chance to drink lots of champagne.
But after a week of good living and booze
we agreed that we'd need to rest up in Toulouse.
Then we drove to Madrid before heading to Lisbon
to meet our friend Pete who'd just flown in from Brisbane-
we drove farther south to a town near Granada
to find lots of wine to replenish the larder,
and then spent a week just outside Algeciras,
but folk that we spoke to refused to come near us.
We stayed for a while in the town of Pamplona
where Pete walked the street (he's a bit of a loner).
We drove fairly fast to a hotel in Cannes
where we tried to confide our affairs to a man,
who gave us some goods to deliver in Rome
for a fee we'd not see until safely back home.
We sailed down to Malta to stay in Valetta
but a fax sent from sfax made us think that we'd better
cross ovel to Tunis then drive to Algiers
to speak to a Greek I had known for some years.

l4
 Part I Syllables, stress and rhythm

We drove through Morocco to reach Casablanca

to discuss, without fuss, our affairs with a banker.
Then headed back north, crossed the straits of Gibraltar
but passed through so fast we were starting to falter,
and round about then I began to remember
I had to meet Dad on the tenth of September.

We sold the Fiesta and loaded a plane

then with some gear from Tangier then we got on a train,
which roared through the night till it reached Santander
where we stayed one more day just to breathe in the air,
then a boat brought us back to our own native shores.
So that was my holiday, how about yours?

Task 7 Your task is:

a) to write the place names in the table according to their stress patteln (two have been done as
examples);
b) to find the odd one ouq that is to say, the name which follows a pattern not represented in the $rid.

Rhymes, rhythm and alliteration

The remaining practice poems in Part I include one extra element, alliteration; that is to say, the
repetition of initial consonant sounds at the start of words.

Names
In the fi.rst poem, 'Names from the British Isles', each line contains an English first name, followed by a
British placó name, both starting with the same sound (usually a consonant, but there are two examples
of vowels being repeated).
As with the previous poem -'What kind of summer did you have?'- this has a simple ONE two three
oNE two three waltz beat. But you can only keep to the beat if you remember the following:
1 Several common place name endings have become so weak that the vowels have been reduced to
schwa.
-hąm= laml Nottingham= /'nottłam/ Birmingham= /'bslmI4am/
-ster= lstal Leicester = /'lesta/ =
Gloucester /'glosta/
-ton = ltanl Paignton = /'pentan/ Taunton= /'tclntan/
-ford = ltadl Stratford = /'stratfad/ Oxford = /'oksfad/
2 Most two-syllable nouns start with a stressed syllable and end with a weaker syllable (often containing
schwa). Place names are no exception. But watch out for those that have the main stress on the second
syllable, for example:
oundee Kildare łrgyll lu'galll carlisle /ko:'1aI1/

15
 Rhymes and Rhythm

Most two-s}4lable first natnes a]so start u,jth a sttcssed s1,llable. But a nunlber clf nanres (especially
those endingrvith -rl) harre the nlain strcss t\Ą,o syllables from tłre end, for exanrple:
I,a cia = /pa'11{3/ A cla = /a'manda/ Be ła = /ba'lrnda/ Tł-re sa = f ta'r|zaf or
lta'rclzal
Tłris happens with place rrames such as Re no, Mtllttarlri and CoIu-ąiLl. (Look at tlre poem on page 17 for
u,ords such as bcllltllltl, sltagltetti and librctto.)
'l'he preposition
fi,om is founcl in its rveak /frłm/ forrn throughout, But the prclnunciation of aiiri
depends on lvhat thc ncrt sound is. 'l'he /c1/ is only celtain tc}be heard ivhen fo1lowed ll,v a vowel (so
rttttl Attne = /dan/). But the /c1/ is e]ided in otld §trlil, for exatnple, and we heal /an stan/,
Sometimes tł,hen the /cll disappears it allows assimilaticln tcl take place. This nleans that a souncl
changcs to be morc like thc follorł,ing soltnd. 1n ttttd Pltricitt, fol exanrple thę ldl goes and then the /n/
becornes/m/becauseof thcfo]lowinglpl anc]l,veendupwith/ampatrtfa/.]nthcsalneway/ ondKątc
= /a4 kett/. (The synlbol /r;/ represcnts thc consonant sound at the encl of .solt11, tltittg,l,rrtlttg, etc.)
(Don't worr;- if tłris is not very clear at the nroment. Wc u,ill look at elision and assimilation in more
detail in Paft II].)
6 And be careful with the links irr, for example, 0Lld_Alttle , Cltester_tltttl, Iclyce_is, fiotn_Arglll , etc.

E
Nątnes from the British Isles
1 Norman's from Nottingham, 3 Ken's from Carlisle
Martin's from Mottingham, and Anne's from Argyll,
:i:l;tl:
Charley's from Chester Fanny's from Fawley
and Lesley's from Lee; and Harriet's from Hull;
Joyce is from Jarrow Teddy's from Tenby
and Henry's from Harrow, and Den is from Denbigh,
Laura's from Leicester Chris comes from Crawley
and Dave's from Dundee. and Millie's from Mull.
2 Ted comes from Taunton 4 Ed comes from Eltham
and stan comes from staunton and Fred comes from Feltham,
Billy's from Bolton Brian's from Braintree
And Willy's from Ware; and Chris comes from Crewe;
Mary's from Marlow, Colin's from Kerry
and Harry's from Harlow and Bobby's from Bury,
Mike's from South Molton Ada's from Aintree
and kate's from kiidare. So, how about you?

B
Nąmes from the Americąs
1 Mo's from Montana 3 Hank's from Havana
and Sal's from Savannah, and Guy's from Guyana,
Dave's from Daytona Beth comes from Benton
]r;t .
and Mary's from Maine; and Nick's from North Bay;
Nell's from Nebraska Charley's from Chile
and Al's from Alaska, and Phil comes from Philly,
will's from winona Trudy's from Trenton
and Fred's from Fort Wayne. and Luke's from LA.
2 Rick comes from Reno
and Chick comes from Chino,
Brian's from Brampton
and Rita's from Rome;
Al's from Aruba
and connie's from cuba
Ned's from North Hampton
and Nora's from Nome.

Where do you think you're going?

This is another poem in 3/4 time. The beat is strictly as follows:
andONEZ 3 ONE 2 3 ONE Z 3 ONE2 (and)
du DAH du du DAH du du DAH du du DAH du
l'm go ing to Leeds to 1o Cate a Lb re tto
I'm go ing to Stock holm to Steal a sti le tto

16
 Part I Syllables, stress and rhythm

It is important to remember the following:

1 The place names are either monosyllables (leerls, Slough, Cork, Cowes, etc.) or have the StIeSS Patteln
1 r], as is normal for two_syilable nouns (Brighton, Ventnor, Poland, etc.).
2 The verbs are either monosyllables (btty, view, sell, pittch, etc.) or have the StIeSS Pattern
ll !, as is
normal for two-syllabte verLs Qlrovitle, supply, collect, locate, promote, consult, reform, cottfuse, become),

3 A]l the three-syllable nollns at the end of iines have the pattern i, ! l. This is either because they
derive flom ,l ! verbs (professor, confbssor, relcttion, ColnputerI comrgułter) or because they are loan
words
from other languages ali ending in a vowel sound (.bąnąną, pyjama, vttnillct, confbtti, sPaghetti, libretto,
stiletto, baloney),
4 The two 1oan words with four syllables (sarsparilla and mącąronl) have the patteln o o ! i-', i.e., there
is secondary stless on the first syllable and primary stress on the third.
5 ]f the place has only one syllable (Leecls, Perth, Ctlrk, etc.) then the verb has two syllables
(Provitle ,

supply, collec:t). sut it the piace has two syllables (.Stockholm, Solto, Polaltd, Bcsell) then the verb has one
(buy, steal, pitlclt).

Vocabulary notes
baloney is a type of sausage (from Bologna in ltaly);
a c.ontmttter lńs in the suburbs ancl travels (or commutes) into the city to work;
confetti are bits of coloured paper thrown ovel the couple after a wedding;
a libretto is the words of an opera;
pastrami is a type of smoked beef (US);
pinch is a colloquial word for steal;
sarsparilla is a soft drink made from the sarsparilla plant;
a steeple is the tower of a church;
a stiletto is a sharp, pointed knife;
vąnilla Comes from a type of bean and is used for flavouring desserts.

Now listen to the poem vely carefully and answer the questions on the next pa8e.

E
3
Where do you think you're going?
I'm going to Brighton to buy some bananas
I'm going to Perth to provide some pyjamas
I'm going to Ventnor to view some vanilla
I'm going to Slough to supply sarsparilla
Tffisiq|
I'm going to Soho to seli some salami
l'm going to Poland to pinch some pastrami W/ź]
I'm going to Cork to coliect some confetti |ru)
I'm going to Spain to secure some spaghetti
I'm going to l-eeds to locate a libretto
I'm going to Stockholm to steal a stiletto
l'm going to Prague to plomote mv professor
I'm going to Crewe to consult my confessor
WlY///źl
I'm going to Rye to reform a relation (/v/lI
I'm going to Stansted to stare at the station
I'm going to Basel to boil some baloney ?/
I'm going to Minsk for some mixed macaroni
I'm going to Plymouth to please all the people
I'm going to Stockport to stand on the steep}e
I'm going to Cowes to confuse a computer
I'm moving to Kent to become a commutel

17
 Rhymes and Rhythm

Task 8 Which of the two-syI|able place names have schwa in the final syllable? Which may
have schwa? And which definitely do not have schwa?
Task 9 Which of the final words in each line have schwa in the first syllable?
Task 10 Which of the finalwords also have schwa in the last syllable?
Task 1 1 Which of the verbs have schwa in the first sylIable?

The do-it-yourself tongue-twister kif

I
nvery language has what are called tongue-twisters: sequences with so many examples of alliteration
that even native speakers have problemi saying them fast. (Examples in tngiish include: Peter Piper
,
picked a peck of pickled pepper and She sells seashells on the seashore.)

In 'Names from the British Isles' there were just two examples of each consonant sound; Martin's
from
Mottingham, for example. In 'Where do you think you're going?' it went up to three; I'm going to Brighton
to buy some bąnąnąs, and so on. In this section, we will end up with five or sometimes six. But we'll make
it easier for you by starting with just two examples of the same sound, then building up to three, four,
and so on. (It's called 'The do-it-yourself tongue-twister kit' because you start off easy and take your time
working up to the more difficult ones.)

Two-part alliteration
The most important syllables in this part ale found in the name and in what the pelson buys to eat or
drink. The word bought is more important than the very weak some (= lsaml), butlt is less important than
the main syllables, because it is repeated. Watch out for the words (including names) with stiess on the
second syllables:
po tatoes, bafl0nas, to lTl0.toes, SalOme, Camilla, Patficia
They all have schwa in the first weak syllable!

Vocabulary notes
cabbages and Potatoes are vegetabl es; peaches and bąnąnąs are fruit; doughttuts, chocoląte and
fritters
contain sugat; cod is a fish, and sąlami is a type of sausage.

ts Kenneth
Polly
bought some
bought some
cabbage.
peaches.
7:,.:1, Sally bought some salad.
Dennis bought some doughnuts,
Charles bought some chocolate.
Shirley bought some sugar.
Freddy bought some fritters.
Camilla bought some cod.
Tiną bought some tomatoes.
Baibara bought some bananas.
Salome bought some salami
Patricia bought some potatoes.

Three-part alliteration
Now we add another word to say how much food or drink is bought. This can be a containet (a packet, tin,
crate, etc,); a quantiĘ (a dozen, slice, pound, kilo, etc,); oI we can add -ful to some of the nouns. The main
sYllable in the new word is stressed, but the linking word of is very, very weak. When followed by a vowel,
we usually pronounce it lavl, but when followed by a consonant, it often reduces to schwa. This means
that ą kilo of cabbage sounds like ą kilo a cabbage and ą bunch of bananas sounds l1ke ą bunch a banąnąs.

18
 Part I Syllables, stless and rhythm

B l. l l
Kenneth bought a kilo of cabbage.

Polly bought a packet of peaches.

2,,, .

Sally bought a sackful of salad.

Dennis bought a dozen doughnuts.
Charles bought a chunk of chocoIate.
ł
Shirley bought a shopful of Sugar,

Freddy bought a fridgeful of fritters.

Camilla bought a crate of cod.
Tina bought a tin of tomatoeS.
Barbara bought a bunch of bananas.
Salome bought a slice of salami.
Patricia bought a pound of potatoeS.

Arthur bought an armful of artichokes

Let's practice this three-part alliteration with the follo\^/ing poem. You will get the rhythm if you pause
,r".y Śtigt tty after bougńt in each line. Be careful though, the following lines contain four examples of the
same initial sound:

Jeremy bought a giant iar of jam,

Linda bought a large leg of lamb.
Charlie bought a chunk of cheap cheese.
To keep to the rhythm in these lines you have to be careful to reduce the word of to a simple schwei and
linkitiothewordbeforeit.Ithastosoundlikeagian(t)jarajam/alargelegalamb/achunkacheaPcheese;

Vocabulary notes
Important! Don't feel you have to understand every single word before you start listening to the
poóms. Concentrate on the rhythm and intonation; listen and start repeating; then check the
meaning, if you need to.
Artichokes , beans, peas and spinach are vegetabl es; ąpricots , lemons and quinces are fruit; bream and
sąrdines are fish; Iamb, mince and steąk refer to meat (mince is the meat in hamburgers); a chunk is a
square piece; tloughnuts are a type of bun cooked in deep fat and covered with sugar; muesli is a
uieakfait cereal; a mug is like a cup, but shaped like a cylind er; a stone is 14 pounds, about 6 kllos; toffie
is made with sugar; tlteąd is used for sewing clothes, and when you are sewing, you put a thimble on
your finger to push the needle through.

B
,,,z.,
Arthur bought (pause) an armful of artichokes,
Belinda bought (pause) a barrelful of beans,
Catherine bought (pause) a kilo of cabbages, and
Sandra bought (pause) a sack of sardines.
Harriet bought a handful of handkerchiefs,
Jeremy bought a giant jar of jam,
Loia bought a litre of lemon juice, and
Linda bought a large leg of lamb.
Peter bought a pocketful of peanuts,
Queenie bought a quarter pound quince,
Shirley bought a shop full of sugar lumps, and
Michael bought a milligram of mince.
Salome bought a slice of salami,
Charlie bought a chunk of cheap cheese,
Spencer bought a spoonful of spinach, and
Pamela bought a packet full of peas.

19
 Rhynres and Rhythm

Philippa bought a folder for her photographs,

Stephen bought a stone of steak.
Amos bought an acre of apricots, and
Katie bought a kilogram of cake,
Cuthbert bought a cupful of custard,
Brenda bought a bucketful of bream,
Matilda bought a mugful of mustard, and
Christopher bought a crateful of cream.
Kenneth bought a carton of coffee,
Benedict bought a basket full of bread,
Tina bought a tinful of toffee, and
Theo bought a thimble fuII of thread.
Brian bought some bread for his brother,
David bought some doughnuts for his Dad,
Muriel made some muesli fol her mother
But Mary had no money and she iust felt sad.

Fou r-part al l iteration

Now we drop the word botłght and put in its place another alliterative word. This will give it a ONE two
three ONE two three beat. Careful with the verbs sel€Ct, colleCt and deliver, with stress on the second
syllable and schwa in the first,

Vocabulary notes
purchase, select and seek (past = sousltt) are relatively fotmal verbs; their less formal equivalents ate buy,
choose (or pick) and look for; to shift = 'move from one place to another'; and a dozen = 72.

Kenneth collected a kilo of cabbage.

ts Polly
Sally
purchased a
sought a
packet of
sackful of
peaches.
salad.
2r3 Dennis delivered a dozen doughnuts.
Charles chewed a chunk of chocolate,
Shirley shifted a shopful of Su8ar.

Freddy fried a fridgefuI of fritters.

Tina tasted a tin of tomatoeS.
Salome selected a slice of salami.
Patricia picked a pound of potatoeS.

Artful Arthur
This is the final part of 'The do-it-yourself tongue-twister' sequence. Of course each noun, adjective and
verb is stressed. But in order to do this as a rhythmic chant there has to be four main beats (indicated in
bold in the flrst few lines). And remember to link the words where necessary. You should be doing it
automatically by now. So say:
Artful Arthur argued for an armful of artichokes.
= /'oltfa '1ol0a 'rolgjuld fara 'nc:mfala 'voltItP<rks/
Because the vocabulary is fairly difficult you will have to use a dictionary quite a lot in order to
understand it. So we end up with two matching tasks to help you remember the meanings of most of the
verbs and adjectives.

20
 Part I Syllables, stress and rhythm

Vocabulary notes
These notes are just for the nouns; cardatnołn, fenugreek and vąnillą are a]I used for flavouring food;
gazpttcho is a Spanish summer soup, made with tomatoes and cucumber; nougat is a type of sweet, or
candy, from France; clclms are she]]fish; a sliver is a very thin slice; sturgeon and ttłną are fish; tłeącle
comes from sugar.

B
§,,,,,
Artfui Arthur argued for an armful of artichokes.
Able Amos ached for an acre of apricots.
Barmy Barbara bargained for a basket of bananas,
Beautiful Belinda boiled a barrelful of beans.
Rrash Brenda brandished a briefcase full of bran.
Careful Catherine cooked a kilo of cabbages.
Carmen calmly carted off a cartload of cardamom.
Cheerful Charlie chose a chenlz chunk of chocolate.
Clever Chloe clung to a cluster of clams.
Dirty Duncan dreamed of a dozen dainty duck-eggs.
Fragrant Freda fried a fridge full of fritters.
Furtive Freddy fondled a flstful of fenugreek.
Gorgeous Gertrude gasped for a gallon of gazpacho.
Greedy Grenville grasped for a gross of green grapefruit.
Happy Harry hauled away a hamper full of ham.
Jerky Gerald juggled with some jars of jam. =-,
Lazy Lawrence lugged alĄ/ay a lorry-load of }ettuce.
Little LoIa lapped up a litre of lemon juice. Ut
Merry Michael munched a milligram of mince. q
Naughty Norma gnawed a knob of nutty nougat.
Posh Patricia purchased a pound of Polish peaches.

u
Queasy Quentin quaffed a quarter-pint of quince-juice.
Sad Sally savoured a sack full of sandwiches.
Sheepish Shirley shattered a shop full of shell-fish.
Sly Salome siiced off a sliver of salami.
ź---+
Spotty Spencer spattered a spoonful of spinach.
Stocky Stephen stood on a stone of sticky sturgeon.
Tiny Tina tasted a teaspoonful of tuna. O-
Tricky Trevor traded a trunkful of treacle.
vicious victor vanished in a van full of vanilla.
Weary Wanda waded in a waggon load of watercless.

Task 12 Match the adjectives with their definitions or synonyms.

1 artful a) having a bad skin condition
2 able b) nice-smelling, perfumed
3 barmy c) really small
4 brash d) happy (possibly because of the effect of alcohol)
5 cheerful e) clevĆr, futl ol Lricks, cunning, sly
6 fragrant 0 uncontrolled in one's movements, clumsy
7 futtive 8) misbehaved, or possibly slightly improper
8 gorgeous h) happy, in a good mood
9 greedy i) capable, skilful, clever
1O ierky j) always wanting more things, especially to eat
11merry k) really beautiful
12 naughty D over-confident, loud, too full of oneself
13 posh m) mad, crazy,not all there
1_4 queasy n) dishonestly tricky, unwilling to confide in others
15 sad o) quite short, but well-built
16 sly p) feeling slightly sick, uneasy about a possible action
17 spotty q) deceitful, clever in cheating, difficult to handle.
18 stocky r) sly, not wanting to be seen, up to no good
79 tiny s) upper-class, over-conscious of one's importance
2O tricky 0 unhappy, down in the dumps, miserable

21
Task 13 Match the verbs with their definitions or synonyms.
1 ache a) to tlanspolt
2 atgse b) to breath in suddenly and loudly
3 bargain c) to cut a thin section from a loaf ofbread, a cake, etc,
4 boil d) to grab and hold on to with one or both hands
5 brandish e) to y/ave in the air
6 cling f) to cook in water at 100 degrees Celsius
7 fry g) to hurt, be in pain, Iong for
8 fondle h) to bite steadily at something till it is wórn away
9 gasp i) to drink steadily (old-fashioned)
1O grasp i) to try to get something for a lower price
11 haul k) to drink the way a cat does
12 juggle 1) to eat or taste while enjoying the flavour
13 lug m) to hold tightly to something with both arms
14 lap n) to throw liquid or semi-liquid matter on to something
15 munch o) to move or transport with difficulĘ
16 gnaw p) to dispute, quarrel, disagree verbally
17 purchase q) to keep three or more objects in the air simultaneously
18 quaff r) to walk in liquid which comes up higher than the ankles
19 savour s) to stroke gently and affectionately
20 shatter t) to chew carefully and steadily, while making some noise
21 slice u) to disappear
22 spattet v) to break something fragile into many small pieces
23 vanish w) to cook in oil or fat
24 wade

ęF
x) to buy

Ę;,
1
(l Z

W
)r
m
--
\
,2 o\
C\ ,ćtE
.S .t_t-r.Z

22